英語 - 外国語学習者の情報源・情報交換の場

小選挙区制： single-seat constituency system
比例代表制： proportional representation system

不在者投票： absentee ballot

Voters in Japan have taken an historic political leap. They threw out the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for only the second time since that center-right party was formed shortly after World War II. And they gave the opposition a landslide victory that will make its leader, Yukio Hatoyama, the new prime minister.
(NPR August 30, 2009)

In the 2005 election, the Liberal Democratic Party fielded a large number of "assassins," particularly women, to oust LDP incumbents who opposed then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's plan to privatize the postal services.
The DPJ on Sunday mirrored Koizumi's tactic by fielding 46 women, many against big-name ruling coalition politicians.
The strategy proved successful.
(asahi.com 9/1/2009)

Another shift seen in the election concerned the issue of candidates who "inherit" constituencies from their relatives.
Amid growing criticism over the practice, only 75 of the 133 "hereditary candidates" from both the LDP and the DPJ won seats.
(asahi.com 9/1/2009)

Hatoyama told reporters he wanted to wrap up talks quickly on forming a coalition with the two parties.
Referring to differences the DPJ has with the other parties on national security policy, Hatoyama said: "They are not hurdles that cannot be overcome through extensive discussions. I am not very concerned about that."
(asahi.com 9/1/2009)

When asked what posts he would give to leading DPJ figures, such as Secretary-General Katsuya Okada and the two acting presidents, Ichiro Ozawa and Naoto Kan, Hatoyama said: "I want them to continue playing central roles. I want them to perform their duties in a manner that will allow for all of our wonderful colleagues to fully exercise their abilities."
(asahi.com 9/1/2009)

One change on the horizon may be the renegotiation of a deal with Washington to relocate the United States Marine Corps' Futenma airfield, on the island of Okinawa. Many island residents want to evict the base altogether.

The Democrats, who opposed the American-led war in Iraq, have also said they may end the Japanese Navy's refueling of American and allied warships in the Indian Ocean.

Political analysts expect Japan to remain a close American ally, but one that is more assertive and less willing to follow Washington's lead automatically.
(The New York Times 8/31/2009)

▼Louisa Lim(NPR reporter in Tokyo)のラジオレポート
Well, voters were just desperate for change. I mean, they are very angry and frustrated with the LDP's policies, and they wanted to use the ballot box to let them know. And when I asked voters why they weren't voting for the LDP, the answers that they came up with most often were because they were worried about the growing rich-poor divide. They were worried about unemployment, which is at a post-war high, and they were concerned about the welfare system and the future of this rapidly aging society.
If you think about it, Japan's the only developed economy which has, on average, shrank over the past 20 years. And people have seen their lives getting worse, and they blame the LDP, which has been in power for so long. So they just simply didn't want to put up with it anymore.
(NPR August 30, 2009)

※少子高齢化：　a low birthrate and an aging population　など
　格差： 一言でうまく相当する英語の言葉は見当たらないが上記のほか、income disparity, widening gap など